Narrative Text

Narrative Text adalah teks yang berisi tentang sebuah cerita atau dongeng (bisa berupa cerita rakyat (folktale), cerita binatang (fable), Legenda (legend), cerita pendek, dll). Di dalamnya terdapat konflik/puncak masalah yang diikuti dengan penyelesaian. Penyelesaian (ending) disini bisa berupa happy ending (akhir yang bahagia) atau bisa pula sad ending (akhir yang sedih). Fungsi utama teks ini adalah untuk menghibur pembaca.

Generic Structure:

Orientation – Complication – Evaluation (optional) – Resolution

Orientation:

berisi pengenalan tokoh, tempat dan waktu terjadinya cerita (siapa atau apa, kapan dan dimana)

Complication:

Berisi puncak masalah/konflik dalam cerita. Sebuah cerita boleh memiliki complication lebih dari satu

Evaluation:

ini merupakan optional (boleh ada boleh tidak), biasanya dipakai untuk membuat jalan cerita lebih menarik.

Resolution:

Pemecahan masalah. Bisa berakhir dengan kegembiraan (happy ending) bisa pula berakhir dengan kesedihan (sad ending)

Contoh:

The Boy who cried “Wolf”

There was once a shepherd-boy who kept his flock at a little distance from the village. Once he thought he would play a trick on the villagers and have some fun at their expense. So he ran toward the village crying out, with all his might,

“Wolf! Wolf! Come and help! The wolves are at my lambs!”

The kind villagers left their work and ran to the field to help him. But when they got there the boy laughed at them for their pains; there was no wolf there.

Still another day the boy tried the same trick, and the villagers came running to help and got laughed at again. Then one day a wolf did break into the fold and began killing the lambs. In great fright, the boy ran for help. “Wolf! Wolf!” he screamed. “There is a wolf in the flock! Help!”

The villagers heard him, but they thought it was another mean trick; no one paid the least attention, or went near him. And the shepherd-boy lost all his sheep.

Snow Maiden

Once upon a time there lived a couple in a village. They had got married for a long time, but so far they did not have a baby yet. Every single minute they prayed to God, begged for a baby, but it never came true.

One day, they went to Snow Mountain. They made a girl from snow and they dressed her beautifully. When it got dark, they decided to go home and left the snow girl alone. The following morning, someone knocked the door. “Any body home?” she said. The old woman inside opened the door and asked, “Who are you?” The girl said “I’m Snow Maiden, your daughter”. The old woman was surprised and happy. “Oh really? Thanks God! Come in, please!” Since that meeting, they lived happily. Snow Maiden was beautiful, kind, diligent and helpful. Her parents and all of her friends loved her very much. One day, Snow Maiden played with her friends. They played fire. At first, Snow Maiden just looked at their play. Suddenly, her friends asked her to jump on the fire. Of course she refused it because one thing that made her afraid was the fire. It’s because Snow Maiden was made of snow, so she should avoid the fire. But her friends kept on forcing her to jump on. Finally, she could not do anything then she did it. She jumped on the fire and she melted. Her friends were so sorry about this, they cried and cried hoping Snow Maiden could live again, but it was useless. Snow Maiden would not be back anymore her mother tried to entertain Snow Maiden’s friends and asked them to make a new Snow Maiden. They went to a snow mountain and started making it. They expected to have the new Snow Maiden. Days passed but their dreams never came true.

Poor them!